


Save the Last Dance for Me

by WhenTheCanonShootsOnlyBlanks



Category: Call the Midwife
Genre: Canon Compliant, F/F, Missing scene 6x06
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-12
Updated: 2017-04-12
Packaged: 2018-10-18 03:14:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,407
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10608123
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhenTheCanonShootsOnlyBlanks/pseuds/WhenTheCanonShootsOnlyBlanks
Summary: With the threat of a nuclear war hanging over their heads, the midwifes of Nonnatus House spend what might be their last night on earth with their loved ones, but not everyone is able to...





	

**Author's Note:**

> So I was rewatching the show again, as one does, and that scene with Patsy's picture in Delia's book was so incredibly sad I decided to make it sadder.

Delia bit on her lower lip, fighting to keep the tears at bay. She reached out a shaky hand, tracing a familiar outline on the picture tucked between the pages of her book.

The world might end tomorrow and all she had was a photograph.

Barbara was with Tom, Trixie had finally let her dentist take her out on a date, Valerie had gone home to be with her family for the night and the nuns were in chapel praying. Phyllis had offered to sit with her but Delia didn’t think she could stomach the company so she had told the older nurse she would be fine on her own for the night.

She wasn’t.

There was only one person she wanted to be with right now and she couldn’t. It was decidedly unfair.

All the others were out spending time with their loved ones before life as they knew it ended, but even if all hell broke loose the next day, they would still get to face the end of the world together.

If a war broke out tomorrow she would never see Patsy again, and Delia couldn’t fathom that. Couldn’t quite wrap her head around the fact that when she had said goodbye to Patsy all those months ago, it might have been for forever.

She couldn’t believe that she would never get to see Patsy again, to hold her, to kiss her or even talk with her.

A tear dripped onto the page of her book and Delia sucked in a shuddering breath. It couldn’t end like this. They had endured far too much for their story to end like this, with a short letter filled with empty details sent months ago. Delia wasn’t going to let it.

She closed her book, she hadn’t read a word of it anyway, and made her way to the phone. Patsy had left her the number of her father’s residence in Hong Kong before she left. ‘For emergencies,’ she had said. Delia didn’t know what would qualify as an emergency if not this.

Over the past couple of months Delia had often wished she could call Patsy, especially after witnessing the horrible stillbirth at the hospital.

She remembered Patsy creeping into her room at the Nurse’s Home after spending the night tending to Abigail Bissette and her stillborn daughter. It seemed so long ago now, but that memory had been as clear in her head as if it had happened yesterday when she herself trudged through the doors of Nonnatus that faithful evening, desperate to talk to someone but finding the occupants of the house asleep. And she could hardly wake up Trixie or Barbara to comfort her. It wasn’t their well-meaning words and hugs she wanted anyway.

She had wanted to call Patsy then, but calling from Poplar to Hong Kong was hardly an easy venture. The connection would be temperamental at best and they couldn’t talk for more than a few minutes without driving the phone bill up to astronomical heights or missing an important call meant for the midwives. They wouldn’t be able to speak freely either, the telephone room too public for more than a hushed “I love you”.

But right now, Delia didn’t care, she needed to hear Patsy. To speak to her even if it was just for a minute to listen to her talk about the weather.

She had already dialed the number before she realized it was the middle of the night in Hong Kong, but the phone was already connecting.

‘Mount residence,’ a female and definitely tired voice lilted in a subtle accent over the line.

‘Sorry to disturb you this early,’ Delia said, trying to keep her voice level. She gathered it was about 4 in the morning in Hong Kong and that she had very rudely interrupted this poor woman’s sleep. ‘But I am calling from London, I’m looking for Patience Mount. It is important that I speak to her,’ Delia said, anxiously twirling the cord between her fingers.

‘Miss Mount is asleep right now, could you perhaps call back later?’ the nurse asked.

‘No, I can’t. I know it is highly untoward, but could you please wake her? It is important I speak to her.’

There was a moment of silence on the other side of the line, Delia about to apologize for the inconvenience and hang up when the woman on the other side spoke up.

‘Who can I say is calling?’

‘Delia. Delia Busby,’ Delia breathed.

‘Hold please,’ the nurse said before the line went silent, just the crackling of the long-distance connection keeping her company.

As she waited her heart started beating faster in anticipation, precious seconds ticking away. She was going to owe Sister Julienne quite an explanation as to why the phone bill was this high. But she would gladly pay every shilling in her savings if it meant she could hear Patsy’s voice for just a minute.

Her heart leapt into her throat as she heard some noise on the other side of the line. Thousands of miles away someone had picked up the phone, she could only hope it was Patsy and not someone else.

‘Delia?’ a familiar voice asked. Even transformed slightly by the distance between them, the redhead’s unique timbre struck a chord within Delia and tears sprung into her eyes.

‘Pats,’ she breathed, trying to not let her tears overwhelm her.

There was a moment of silence, neither woman knowing what to say. There was too much to discuss, too much Delia wanted to say.

‘I needed to hear your voice,’ Delia said softly.

‘And you don’t know how much I needed to hear yours,’ Patsy said, sounding a little choked. Not much different to how Delia was feeling.

The reason for her call didn’t need to be said out loud, Patsy knew. They both knew, the silence just as telling as their words would have been.

‘I miss you,’ Delia whispered, the words barely audible between her tears.

‘I will get home, I promise you, Delia. We will be together again,’ Patsy said.

Delia nodded, trying to swallow the lump in her throat so she could say something. That she loved Patsy. That she would count the days until she got home. That she wished she was here.

‘I love you,’ Delia hiccupped.

‘I love you too,’ Patsy cried softly.

‘I- I have to go now,’ Delia said, tears now freely making their way down her face.

‘Thank you. For calling,’ Patsy said softly.

‘Take care,’ Delia breathed, steadily losing her composure. It was lovely to hear Patsy’s voice but it only emphasized the fact that they weren’t together.

‘Be safe,’ Patsy replied, her voice wavering.

Delia started to full-on sob as she put down the phone, her throat tight and her shoulders heaving as tears streamed down her face.

So many things had remained unsaid, things she had wanted to say, had wanted to ask Patsy. She needed hours to talk about everything she wanted to, not minutes.

She barely noticed the soft hand on her back through all her shaking.

‘Oh, lass,’ Phyllis said, pulling the younger midwife into a hug. ‘There, there. Let it out, let it all out,’ Phyllis said, rubbing Delia’s back soothingly.

It took a while for Delia to calm down, seemingly missing Patsy more now they had spoken, even if it had just been for a minute.

Delia wanted to say something, tell someone how much she missed Patsy. But even if Phyllis seemed to understand the connection she and Patsy shared, Delia couldn’t tell her. It would reveal too much. She couldn’t say how she felt, not directly.

‘I think a cup of tea might be in order,’ Phyllis said.

Delia nodded weakly, wiping her tears away with her sleeve.

‘The sun will come out tomorrow and the world will keep on turning,’ Phyllis said as put a steaming cup of tea in front of her. ‘No matter what happens next, we will manage. Have hope.’

Delia forced a smile and nodded, clasping her hands around the cup. They would manage. Patsy would come home, she believed that. She _had_ to believe that she would see Patsy again.

And when the next morning news came that the Russians had agreed to the American’s terms Delia couldn’t help but rejoice with the others. Things would be alright; Patsy would come back. She knew that. She had hope.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed it! I will probably just do more of these canon snippets so if there is anything you want to see just give a shout!


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